You Don't Choose Who You Fall In Love With
by nodda
Summary: Meet Iwate Amane, a high school girl with a disturbing past and almost worse present. Will her luck change when she meets the gorgeous, but intimidating Hitsugaya Toshiro or will it get even worse? HitsuXOC anti-Hinamori AU. M for language.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** anti-HitsuHina. :D And...Hinamori as I see her. Muahahaha. **May contain lime in future chapters.**

**Disclaimer:** The only thing I own in this story are the plot, setting, and the OCs. This story is comprised, in its entirety, of fiction. Bleach © Kubo Tite. Any similarities between a real person, living or dead, are not intended by the author.

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_"You Don't Choose Who You Fall In Love With"_

_-/Prologue/- _

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-Flashback- 8 years ago

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The event in her life occurred years ago, but it was still fresh in her mind. Neither her mind, nor her body could relinquish the memory. It was too painful, easily forgotten, nor was the mental wound easily healed without scarring. She would carry the burden of the memory and her resentment of strangers for the rest of her life.

There was an exam that day, something else that would determine the rest of her life. The exam governed over which high school she would go to, and it basically determined what she would do for the rest of her life. It tested one's capabilities and comprehension.

Before the incident, she was more of a social girl, interested mostly in her own social life, never paying attention to things that did not include that day. Then again, it was natural for a girl her age. She was only eight.

During the test, all that she could think about was how nice it was outside, what she would do when she finally completed it. The sun shone brightly and there were only a few small cumulonimbus clouds in the sky, each white, and cotton, like unblemished cotton. Her thought process mainly was of going outside, talking to her friends for a short period of time, and boarding the bus for a short ride home.

To her, the test was neither hard, nor easy. It didn't quite reflect all that she _could have_ done, but mediocre was good enough for her. Half of the time, she hadn't paid much attention to what she was writing. When it came to filling in the bubbles, she filled in which one made the most sense, and didn't calculate, or go back in her memory to figure the problem out. Of course, she still went back in the test booklet to check her answers. Her parents would never let her live it down if she got a less than average score on the exam. They believed in her too much.

As soon as the test was finished, she got up from her seat, smiled brightly and gave it to her teacher. Then, she gathered up her things, and started to run briskly to the buses. The only other person in the halls was the janitor, who looked up briefly when she walked past him, but returned his gaze to sweeping the halls.

Having to check her work took longer than she expected, and she was late for her bus, it had already left only a few short moments before. But, she didn't mind that much. After all, her home was only twenty minutes away. Even though her parents told her that she should never walk home alone, she paid no mind. She was far too naïve.

Of course, those ten minutes of walking had to go over one of the emptiest streets in the city. Recently in Yamagata, there had been a huge increase of people in debts, and the number of people in homeless shelters had risen to an all time high. There were people living on the streets, even more so than in the entire history of the city. The foreign market sales had dropped severely in this last year, and many people weren't sure about what they would do...

Those ten minutes ended up to being the longest minutes of her life.

After walking two blocks away from the school, it became more obvious that this part of the city was a more run down than most. There weren't very many people walking by her. Only strangers who hardly even acknowledged her presence. A few even bumped into her, obviously lost in their own thoughts.

Then, she ran into _them. _There were three men in the street, obvious low lifes. They looked pretty harmless, just sitting on the curb, talking loudly, possibly getting drunk. They were so common at the time, that she would have easily forgotten them on any other day. Of course, this wasn't just any other day. It was the worst day of her entire life, or one of the worst days to come in her entire life. Things later would seem nearly equal to this experience. She'd always remember their voices as they catcalled her, being too drunk to realize that she was only eight. Of course, Amane had genetics to blame for this too, people had always thought that she was about three years older than she really was. Being taller than the average person her age and developing slightly faster in maturity tended to do that.

Amane walked faster still, trying to jaywalk over to the other side of the road, so that she could avoid them.

_Stranger danger, stranger danger. Idiot, how can you afford to be funny at a time like this?! Who knows what they might do?_

"Aww, widdle kitten, come back. We just wanna talk wit you." Amane looked back just in time to see a fist in her face. And then, all was dark.

She woke up in a hospital the very next day, with her little sister's head on her lap, the blanket wet where her head was. Amane felt a bandage on her head, and she touched it briefly before stroking her sister's hair.

"Amaterasu," she asked, "where's mom and dad?"

"You're awake," She sobbed.

"What happened, where are they?"

"It was horrible." Amaterasu's tears could be heard in her voice, "They died in the car accident."


	2. Chapter 1: My Life Sucks

**A/N:**–makes Hitsugaya a snowboarder, who is about 5'3 in this fanfic- He needed to grow a bit, and if he didn't have his snowboard, how else would I incorporate Hyourinmaru into this? First person FTW. Oh, and...I choose random places from my stories, and I don't mean to offend anyone.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Bleach so don't sue me?

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**-/**_Chapter One: My Life Sucks_**/-**

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_-/__Hitsugaya Toshiro's P.O.V.__/-_

_I can't believe that Father sent me __**all the way down to this **__**dump**__ to focus on my "social skills" I'm perfectly fine, just the way I am. It's not as if it's **my** __fault that people avoid me because I have silvery-white hair, and aquamarine eyes. _I fumed. My parents had cut me off from his money, my connections, and worst of all, my snowboard. It, of all things, wouldn't talk about me behind my back, point and stare at me, nor would it try to get me to get my parents to donate to other peoples' causes. It was one of the few consistent things in my life, and now it was gone, for the time being, anyways. There was also the feeling that I feel when I go down a mountain at full speed, it made me feel like I was on the top of the world. Land-bounders probably wouldn't understand.

The only thing that remained the same in my life, thus far, was fact that Hinamori Momo, my annoying as hell childhood friend, was coming. She has always annoyed me about dating, falling in love, and other crap like that. She acts like we should get together. The last person in the world that I want to be with would probably, and almost definitely, be her. She's stuck up, stupid, proud, obstinate, and a backstabbing, lying bitch that deserved her most recent heartbreak from, (who was it again?) Aizen. I hate her. She's always been more of a pest, an annoying sibling that doesn't understand the simple words, "Go away, I don't like you." She'd been getting herself into messes all of her life, and always relied on **me** to get her out of them. I can remember several instances, of where she has called me in the middle of the night, and asked for favors, such as driving her back home, because she's too drunk, or getting her mail. (WTF?!) Was she just **following** me so that I could do more favors for her on the whim, or was she pursuing me as a romantic interest? Ew. I'm **most certainly** not that desperate. Thank God.

To purge my mind from the thought of Hinamori, I drifted to the town that that I was going to. What was it? Yamagata? Hopefully, it wouldn't be as bad as it sounds. I'm supposed to be going to some school that's supposed to be "the best in the city". I wonder what these commoners call_ the best_. Would it be terrible, compared to what I'm used to? Would this place be worth the 5 hour train ride from Tokyo? I'd find out soon enough. All of the transferring trains ahead of me don't seem very fun. Gawd, do I miss my private jet. Trains are too slow. Stupid Father had to make it so that I have to ride on this piece of crap. Does he truly want me to feel like a dirty commoner? I was beginning to feel like one, with the dirty country smells, and what was that smell supposed to be, roadkill? I pinched my nose. No one else seemed to mind it. What was wrong with these people? Was it an aspect of the commoner life that I would have to endure in the months to come? I felt a bit sorry for these people, they didn't know what they were missing out on. "Living the good life" is a lot better than what commoners are led to believe.

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_-/Iwate Amake's P.O.V/- 5hrs. later_

"I'm coming, Uncle." I answered back, when I heard my uncle call for meI'd been daydreaming again. I mused about what to call the horror that was my "daydream". Day_mare_ was more like it. I'd been "daymaring" about that accursed day. the worst day of my life, the day that my parents died. If that wasn't enough to top it off, it was also the day that I had been violated. I didn't notice the sweaty sheen my face had, until I went into the house.

"Get me a beer."

_Dirty, stupid, lazy, idiotic, drunk pig. _Mentally cursing him with pleasure, I went to go get his beer.If he didn't waste all of our money on gambling, whores, and alcohol, we'd be a lot better off. We might even get to buy new furniture, but now, the horrible pig had to waste all of our money. We and our, being me, Amane, and my little sister, Amaterasu. I retrieved the beer from the disgusting refrigerator, which had rotting vegetables and meat in it. Then, I went to where he was sitting, at his gambling table, where his leeching, gambling friends were. The floor was littered with beer cans and bottles. The smell was utterly disgusting. If you can imagine a room with spoiled wine, liquor, and maybe the smell of human feces, combined with rotten food, and unwashed dishes, you _might_ be able to understand what I'm talking about. I was musing about how long it would take for the smell to go away, when my guardian, of whom they call my uncle punched me in the gut. A gust of air came out of my mouth. Panting, I stared at him, angry, but not hurt. This had happened too many times. The goons laughed. My eyes teared up, and I bit back to keep from crying. I wouldn't cry. Not in front of them, not in front of _anyone._ I hadn't gone through this hell to show that I was weak. _All men are disgusting freaks._

"Stop daydreaming, idiot girl!"

I grimaced. The gaze of all of my uncle's repulsive friends were filled with lust. I tried to creep away, silently. "Not so fast, slut." I could smell the alcohol on his breath. He'd been drinking a _lot._ Had I been less wary, and more bold, i would have said, "What?!" and given him a cold stare. Hell, maybe I would have told him to piss off. But, I know my uncle better than that. _Way_ better than that. If he doesn't get what he wants, he hurts someone close to you. That person would be my sister, Amaterasu. The only person who understands me, a relic of my parents, loved by everyone, forever cursed with autism and dyslexia. I recoiled from him, "Yes?"

"My friend Taro wants some company in bed tonight." The goons grinned suggestively.

He looked at me lewdly, as if I should understand what it meant by, "Taro wants some company in bed tonight." It hit me. He was getting paid. What an asshole. And worse, was he fucking serious?I panicked inside. My memory of being raped had never left me, even now, 8 years later. I never wanted to touch another man in my life. I managed to keep a cool expression, barely. "I have to work–" My voice trailed off. I was the "breadwinner" in our "family". Since the age of 14, I'd been forced to. People let me work for them out of pity, something that I don't need, and have never needed.

"I won't do it." My voice was feeble and weak, just like the way I felt. I sent daggers at him with my eyes.

"You don't have a choice."

He was right. I didn't have a choice, unless I...ran away. It sounded like a good plan, but would it work? I can certainly run, but there is no way that I can run from a car. I'm too clumsy, and if I brought stuff with me, I'd be much too slow. It was worth a shot. But was it worth it to bet raped **and** beaten? Maybe.

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Aaand, this is where I leave you off. :O Geez. Isn't Amane's life sad? o.o And poor Amaterasu. Where will they go? o.o And are they going to have a connection with the brat, Hitsugaya Toshiro:D 

Reviews please. :)


	3. Chapter 2: Shall I Stay or Should I Go?

**A/N:** Yeah, I know, I suck at portraying Hitsugaya-taichou, but that's because I'm trying to make him sound bratty and o.o;; um...preppy, I guess. x.x Please don't kill me. He'll be a lot more in character within the next...2 chapters. o.o; Stay with me?

Oh, oh, oh! I'm going to make it entirely from Amane's POV after she and Hitsugaya meet! Besides, his part is just explaining things right now. n.n; The next chapter is the one that is going to be fairly sad, too, (although, depending on your point of view, it could be worse). But, bear with me. It'll be the last one, I promise. :)

I was actually kind of scared that this wouldn't get any reviews at all. o.o Or, even alerts for that matter...So, THANK YOU VERY MUCH to the three reviewers that I actually ended up getting, the two favorites :3, and the four alerts:D

**DarkShadowMuffin**: I know! Dx Their lives really suck right now, but It'll get better within the next few chapters.

Thank you very much:D

ZOMG I was so scared that people were going to call my prologue fake. I have never written anything like it before, and never plan to, ever again. But, yes. The prologue is_ so sad!_ T.T

xP I'll try to update faster. ☺

**ShiroBanaXTheWhiteFlower**: Yay:D Thank you! . I kinda can and kinda can't. O-o We have our similarities, but thankfully, I've never been in a situation like hers. To be truthful, the inspiration for this story came from someone else's RL experience. o.o This is just…might be a bit more intense.

BTW, thank you for the favorite. :3

**SakuraHaruno64: **:D Thank you! nn Here it is!

**Disclaimer:** The only thing I own in this story are the plot, setting, and one of the characters. This story is comprised, in its entirety, of fiction. I kinda stole the main theme of ch.304 -15 in Bleach with Hyourinmaru and Hitsugaya. So yeah, that's not mine either. Sadly.

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**Key:** When a word is **bolded**, it means that it is being stressed, as in. "**WHAT THE HELL?!**" 

If a word is in _italics_ it is either being lightly stressed or it is a thought. Ex: _What am I doing here._

If a word is underlined when bolded or in italics, it is stressing the word even more.

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-/**Chapter 2: Shall I Stay, Or Should I Go?**/-

_Bleach © Kubo Tite _

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-/_Iwate Akame's P.O.V._/- 

Hm. I choose go, but first thing's first. Amaterasu. The swines began another subject, thank God, and I managed to slip away. It was time to leave this hell hole. Swiftly, I walked from the "gambling room" to my and Amaterasu's room. The room isn't bad, overall. Sure, the paint seems to be cracking off and we might have roaches, but overall it isn't that bad. It could be worse, or could it? I wonder sometimes. (Have you noticed the sarcasm?) Amaterasu was drawing on our one double bed, seeming like she didn't have a care in the world. When I quietly cracked open the door, she stopped and looked up, then began drawing again. "Hey," I said quietly.

"Hi." She patted the area beside her, and continued drawing. Understanding what she meant, I walked over and sat down on the bed.

"Whatcha drawing?"

She showed me. It was a picture of a happy, go-lucky girl, who looked similar to me, for reasons unknown, and a short, spiky-white haired guy with alluring aquamarine eyes. The girl's arm was wrapped around his shoulder, and she was smiling and laughing, while the white-haired guy frowned and glared at her. I almost laughed.

"Is this supposed to be me?" I pointed at the girl. Amaterasu looked at me with her misty lavender eyes.

"Of course."

To anyone who doesn't know my sister, that stare can be one of the most terrifying things that you've ever seen. I could swear on my life that there is no one in the entire world, who has eyes like hers. They make it look as if she has some sort of mystical power, whereas she probably does. She's been known to have multiple cases of déjà vu, each being perfectly accurate. Was this one?

Unfortunately, I could see that there wasn't very much time left to run, so I (for the time being anyways,) ignored the drawing and brought up another topic (randomly, of course), our escape., "Amaterasu, I think that it's time that we get out of here."

She stopped drawing and looked up.. "I've been thinking about it too," she admitted. I smiled.

"Great minds think alike."

"Hell yeah."

We smiled at each other, aware of what we were going to do. Eight years of spending your lives together as something like orphans does that to you. My sister may be autistic and dyslexic, but she isn't stupid.

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-/_Hitsugaya-sama's P.O.V._/- 

NTS: Trains rank next to a horse and buggy, transportation wise for long distances.

_Ugh my back aches. And, I'm tired._

Five hours on a train aren't very much fun, especially when the seats are so flat, that you might as well be sitting on plastic, and the bathroom is so nasty, that once you step inside, you want to puke or pass out. Why, of all the trains that I could have gone on, did I have to get a ticket to the very worst one?! Whatever, I was here, and that was all that mattered, or was it? In my opinion, there are no clouds with silver linings. Life sucks.

There was a cab and a baggage cart waiting for me. At least something was going right. Or...maybe not. I had to drag the stupid cart all by myself, down to the cab. Life definitely sucks.

By the time that I got to the cab, the cabbie appeared to regret accepting the job of sending me to my apartment. My spiky white hair and icy aquamarine eyes tend to do that to people. Although, now they were a teal, darkening into a green. There were whispers coming from behind me, and I could feel stares burrowing into my back. Damn lowlifes.

Bravely, the cabbie put on a courageous face, and asked me quirkily, "Moving out, eh?" Idiot.

"No."

The cabbie looked nervous again. This time, I couldn't blame him. My eyes were probably a shade from green now, and there was an aura of annoyance radiating from me. I could feel a vein in my head pulsing.

"So, are you going to help me or not?" I gestured towards my baggage and the trunk of the car.

"U-uh, yes sir!" He popped out of the cab, and was almost run over by a car.

I sighed, showing my obvious irritation.

He fumbled with his keys and attempted to open the trunk. I began to wonder, was it really the hair and the eyes that frightened people?

"Here." I passed one of my bags to him. It had only taken about half an hour to put all of my trunks in the bag, and now it was just about 8:45.

We climbed into the cab, and swiftly, as if he couldn't get away from me, we drove away. The train ride had been exhausting, and between the smell and disgust that I felt for the place, I hadn't gotten any sleep. So, I slowly drifted to sleep. I had no way to be prepared for what happened when I woke up.

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-/_Iwate Akame's P.O.V._/- 

Our 'escape' had been pretty easy. The goons and uncle were asleep from drinking too much sake. So, we basically climbed out of our only window, which was roughly about five feet from the ground, and jumped. It was fun, besides the fact that I suffer from the curse of misfortune and clumsiness. I managed to fall out on my rump, and make a really loud noise. The two of us stopped breathing, moving, and making noises to hear if the goons were coming after us. The snoring stopped for the longest ten seconds of my life, and then they started again. We treaded more carefully now.

The thing is, our escape seemed too easy. Stuff like this never happens to us. Maybe this was the thought that made the two of us have our other "incident". I'll never know.

People have always called me a pessimist, although I don't see why. Is it a crime to see things from a different perspective? Life isn't all fun and games. A lot of the time, you have to "get down in the dirt". I'd always thought, if you're prepared for the worst, the worst won't hurt as much. Then again, I'd never even dreamed about my uncle whoring me off, becoming an orphan, or getting raped _before_ my life became a living hell. Was this a reason why it hurt so much to lose it all?

I remember attempting to cross the road. I say attempt, because after we had left our cell, it had begun to drizzle, and the rain increased steadily by the minute. When we had gotten to the road, it had begun to pour. The downpour itself was enough to make the two of us bow over, with all of the rain that was coming down on our heads. I remember Amaterasu's expression of pure innocence and trust as we walked through the muddy grass. I could both feel and hear my shoes and the contact it made with the ground. I remember the distinct "squelch" sound it made, and the rain pouring into my shoes. I also remember how hard it was to pull my feet out of the mess. All that happened that day has been committed to my memory, because this was the day that I met the (short) man (would midget be more appropriate?) that changed my life.

-/_**Flashback**_/-

"Amane-neechan, where are we going?"

My heart froze. I didn't know.

"I don't know."

Despite the downpour, I found myself looking up into the sky, as if it had an answer for me. The rain ran down my face, forming little rivers on the sides of my face. I could feel every drop drip from my face onto my jacket or the ground. Where _were_ we going? And, what the hell was I doing?! I had packed no food, no water, nor any other essentials. Running away without any supplies is completely stupid, unless you stay with someone. But still, I didn't want to stoop so low that we had to rely on someone else's good will for our survival.

My sister seemed to be distracted by something.

"Look, nee-chan! It's a road!"

_Road? _

I looked ahead and I recognized it. How could I have missed it? It was the newest road on our side of the city. Beautiful, luxurious apartments had been built about a month ago, and they had some of the most up to date, contemporary designs, straight from Tokyo.

When I'd heard about this place, I thought that it was farther away My friends had told me all about it, drowning in awe. I guess that it was closer to home than I had originally thought. Then, I thought again...Tokyo...

"Terasu-chan, I think that I know where we are going."

-/_**End Flashback**_/-

And so now, we were stuck here, at the road, trying to decide which direction Tokyo was in and walking on the side of the road. It looked basically abandoned for the moment, so we experimented in directions by walking around and into the underbrush.

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_-/Hitsugaya-sama's POV/-_

_I saw a plane of ice. It stretched beyond my range of vision and seemed to expanse in all directions, never ending. The plane was white, like snow, but desolate. I had never felt so alone, nor so...intimidated. But, strangely, although I had a feeling of foreboding, I felt safe, and more at home than I had ever felt before. I could hear a voice, an echoing voice. It crashed in my ears, disabling my hearing,(although how you can hear in a dream, I have no idea). It crushed, engulfed, and resounded in the distance. I could feel its presence, the presence of ice coming closer. The sound of its voice is just like thunder. It pounds, demolishes, and maims all that defy it. Then, I could see where the sound was coming from. It was a regal dragon, terrifying and beyond the limits of my own imagination, as if it came from another world... I'd never seen anything as awesome, nor as powerful. I felt insubstantial and insignificant. It eyed me critically with its ruby eyes, and I fell on my side. How could anything so great exist? I was in reverance by its mere presence, for only a moment, but I remained speechless. Before I could speak, the dream changed entirely. The world was swirling and spinning out of control. The dragon, which had seemed to fearless before seemed to transform entirely, seeming to be uneasy, like something was wrong. The dragon shouldn't be scared. Surely, something so great could never be scared. _

My eyes flashed open. The cabbie was breathing heavily, and he seemed to be losing control of the car.

"What's happening?!"

He didn't look like he could answer. All that he did was take one of his fists and clutch it against his chest. He was having a heart attack. He squeezed his fist, as if he was trying to say, "It feels like my heart is being squeezed by an icy hand."

An icy hand...I could feel the aura of ice, and smell the redolence of winter. Strangely, I could feel a chill go down my spine, and the feeling of unease sit upon me heavily.

_Oh...shit...__If the driver was having a heart attack...and I'm sitting here, in the back seat...who's going to take the wheel? _

The fact that it was raining didn't make the situation any better.

"Do you think that you can stop the car?"

He shook his head slowly.

_Shit shit shit shit shit._

"Is there any way to get this plexiglass out of the way so that I can take control of the vehicle?"

He gave me a sidelong glance, his eyes saying, "I don't know."

"How long do you think that you can keep on driving?"

His grip on the wheel was loosening and his left arm was twitching, as if in pain.

_Oh, shit..._

Calmly, even though I was far from calm, I stated, "Alright, I'm going to try and get through this stuff, try to hold on for as long as you can."

He looked bewildered, but continued to breathe heavily, as if he wasn't getting enough air. He groaned, as if in pain, and put his trembling left hand to his chest. He seemed to be exhausted.

I stared at the plexiglass for a moment, thinking. I could easily fit myself through the window, because, although I would never admit it, I'm small. My shoulders would barely make contact with it, but how would I take the wheel, much less drive the vehicle? I'd always had chauffeurs drive me, but driving didn't looks so hard. All that it took was holding onto a wheel and pushing a petal, right? Wrong.

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_-/Iwate Amane's POV/-_

I noticed something while we were walking...it was dark. Very dark. The clouds from our earlier cascade still remained, but the rainfall had stopped considerably. Now, it was merely drizzling, but the two of us were soaked. Maybe running away hadn't been such a great idea after all.

Amaterasu, on the other hand, seemed to be very pleased with our progress these past few hours. She still was smiling and was optimistic.

I sneezed.

"Nee-san, are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah. I think that I'm catching a cold, that's all.

She looked at me with a worried expression in her eyes, then started walking again. She'd always been the healthier of the two of us.

"Nee-san, why are we out here, again?"

_Because I'm selfish._

_"_Couldn't we just have stayed at a friend's house?"

"If we'd stayed at a friend's house, he would have found us by now," I pointed out.

"If we'd stayed at a friend's house, we wouldn't be soaked." Ok, I'll admit it, she had an alright argument.

"But, if we'd called the police like the good people that we are, we wouldn't have to go anywhere, be soaked, or be afraid of Uncle," She continued.

"Some of the police are corrupt, Terasu-chan."

"But still, aren't they supposed to help us?"

I had no reply, so we just kept on walking. The ground in front of us was a bit muddy, so I tried to sidestep it. Not such a great choice. I slipped and fell on my face, covered in mud from head to toe, and in the middle of the road. My ankle was twisted in the fall, and I think that I bruised a knee. Was it just me or was there light coming closer?

I wiped my face with a slightly cleaner arm. There were two dots of light coming closer, fast.

Amaterasu giggled and crouched, then offered me a hand.

"Run!"

"What?" She looked confused.

"**Just run, there's a car coming. Hurry!**"

"Car, where?"

The lights were about 15 meters (50 feet) away now. Amaterasu was nearsighted, so she probably couldn't see the outline of a taxi cab in the dark.

"**You've got to go!**"

"I'm not going** anywhere **without you." She looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"Just go, dammit!" I pushed her away with my good leg, to the other side of the road.

"**NO**!"

_Brat._

I pushed her away again, into another car. I hadn't seen it in my trepidation of her getting hit by the taxi.

_The taxi...oh shit._

I felt the heaviest weight that I have ever felt in my life land on my right arm, and crunch the bones into dust. Later, Amaterasu would say that the scream I uttered was the most terrifying thing that she had ever heard.

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**More A/N!:** Yeah, so...this is pretty freaking sad too. o.o; Don't worry, none of them die, and yes...Hitsugaya is in the taxi. :) I don't think that I clarified things enough, and I don't know how I'm going to clarify the entire thing with Amane and her running around all of Yamagata with her sister. (Huh, was it Yamagata that I used? Oh well. xD) So, here's a very short summary of what happened. 

And...HOLY CRAP! o.o;; SO MANY WORDS! GACK! Ok. I'm good now. Don't mind me...

**Summary:** Amane and Amaterasu run away from their uncle's house, a.k.a. the house that they have lived in their entire lives, because their uncle wants to use Amane as a prostitute. o.o;

Histugaya complains about how much his ride sucked. xD And then he goes into the taxi (of Death) for a ride to his new, beautiful apartment.

Amane and Amaterasu start going to God knows where because they're really scared of what's going to happen to Amane, and it's raining. They come up with questions about why they left home, where they're going, and why they didn't call the police on their uncle a loooonnnggg time ago. Amane slips and falls into a puddle in the middle of the road.

Meanwhile...Hitsugaya's cabbie is having a heart attack and he's like half dead by the time that Hitsugaya wakes up from his little nap. He contemplates about what he's going to do, because he can't save the cabbie.

Then...the car eventually makes its way down the road, to where Amane and Amaterasu are. Another car, coincidentally is there too, and it runs Amaterasu over. Amane's hand gets crushed by the taxi and she too gets run over.

END OF CHAPTER

Well anyways, I hope that you...sat painfully through this chapter and...I finally updated. xD I haven't been in the mood recently, but I felt like I had to get it done. Maybe that's why it's so crappy. o.o;


	4. Chapter 3: More Pain and Twisted Luck

**A/N:** -yawns loudly- Another painfully sadistic chapter. Since when did I like other people's pain so much! Dx Anyhow, this one might be a bit crappy as well, but IDK you choose. I haven't really planned beyond this point, other than in my head, of course, but...:S Maybe I'll write in my journal for this story tonight. Augh. So tired...Anyways, thank you soooo much to my awesome reviewers. I'm getting lazy, so...uh...o.o; Don't kill me if I don't reply to your review at all.

**More Notes:** I started this in the middle of the night, around 11PM or so, so if the beginning sounds like crap, this is why. BTW last Hitsugaya's POV chapter. It'll get really short without him, not that this is a short chapter anyways. o.o; Don't ask me what I was doing when I started this chapter. I have no idea of what I was even thinking of. Too dead. Oh yeah, I got too lazy to answer anyone after these people because. n.n; Anyways, this is out because life is in the way...and laziness.

**Disclaimer:** Bleach is Kubo Tite's, but the OCs that are about to be created are mine and mine alone. I do not own Wet Ones (TM)-thing that I'm too lazy to find on my own.

* * *

**Chapter 3: More Pain, Twisted Luck, and A New Home**

_Bleach __© Kubo Tite_

* * *

_ -/Histugaya-sama's POV/-_

By the time that I squeezed through the plexiglass, the driver was dead, and his foot was stuck in on the petal, just like in the movies. The thing is, I couldn't take it off. I would either have to use both hands and pull it off to make the car stop, or I wouldn't stop at all.

I'll admit that I wanted to stop, but the thing was... I couldn't use both hands to pull his foot off without endangering my own life. The thing is, if I had endangered my own life and not been as much of a brat, I wouldn't have met _her._

By endangering my own life, I meant that fact that the car was speeding up by the minute and that there was a dense forest surrounding the area. If I lost control of the car for even one second, I could run into a tree and end my own life. Because of the rain, and because of the wind that came with it afterwards, it was hard to drive and pullat his foot at the same time.

Around the time that it started to merely drizzle, I'd barely gotten his foot halfway off, when I heard voices. I looked up for a mere second to see a girl fall on the ground and push another person into the pathway of a car. The girl who had pushed the other girl away was still sitting down in the pathway of the car...my car. Was she crazy, or was she just plain stupid?

Despite my attempts to break, the cabbie's foot was still stuck on the petal, and the car continued to barrel towards the girl on the road. I'll never forget the shriek that she uttered after I heard her bones grind into the ground. It was almost as if I could feel her pain, whereas I am not very empathetic. The road curved at the point that I ran her over, and it basically went downwards from there.

My usual half-lidded gaze changed into a mask of horror, when I realized how steep it was. I free fell for about five minutes before a large gathering of trees stopped the car and I was sent through the windshield because of the inertia.

I was completely numb when I went through the windshield. I don't even remember blacking out.

* * *

-/_Iwate Amane's POV_/- Unconscious State

_The scene replayed in my mind. The car coming, Amaterasu screaming... Was the person screaming me? I re-experienced the horror of how close the car had gotten, and the feeling of my foot colliding with Amaterasu's somach, sending her flying into the other car. I felt pain in the pit of my stomach, and the feeling transfered to my arm...my hand! It was getting crushed! Why didn't someone stop the pain! It hurt so much. It felt as if I was getting crushed into the earth. I thought that I was dying and this was my punishment. What was it that I had done to deserve this pain? My throat grew hoarse through my screaming, and then the scene came again. I wasn't prepared, once more, and I tried to think of another way to get Amaterasu out of the way. Nothing worked, but my body moved by itself and she got hurt again. I felt a pang go through my heart. Then I looked at the car and caught a flash of white hair and wide blue eyes. The eyes in Amaterasu's picture._

* * *

-/Hitsugaya-sama's POV/-

I awoke in a white room with small, colorful geometric patterns on the wall. The prints bothered me. Hospitals are not happy, cheerful places. I noticed a gentle beeping and something stuck in my arm. Ugh. an IV drip... Something on my face was irritating me. I lifted my hand to my face and tugged at the mask on my face. Figures. But, there was something else. I had a cast on my face. Had I broken my nose? I raised a finger to touch it, I guess so. How did I get into the hospital, anyhow?

Scenes flashed in my mind. A taxi cab, the driver dying, my hands taking the wheel, two girls, flying off of the side of the road, trees, the sight of glass and my head colliding, warm liquid dripping into my eyes. I groaned and felt the top of my head, which had collided with the windshield. It was still tender and I cringed.

Then, I noticed that there were other people in the room. One girl, about my age, with what seemed to be black hair, and another girl who appeared to have strange, very dirty blonde hair, merely a shade from brown. She looked about twelve, Kusajishi's(1) age. I eyed them critically.

There were footsteps and voices coming from down the hall, and the girl with black hair, shifted in her bed. She seemed to be waking up. It was that or she was simply having a bad dream. Was she the one that I had run over? I didn't know. It had happened so fast. After she shifted, I noted that she had a plain, baby blue and white cast on.

"No," she murmured. I barely caught it, in this white, quiet room.

"I'm sorry sir, but you really can't come into this room right now. We have patients recovering..."

"I don't give a shit! Let me in. I'm gonna kick that whore's ass!"

"If you do not leave immediately, I'm going to have to call security and ask them to remove you from the premises." Her voice was shaky, as if she was scared of the person she was talking to. The voices weren't so far away now.

"I don't give a shit!" There was the sound of a brief struggle, and I couldn't here the woman's voice anymore. What had this man done to her?

I didn't want to get entangled into this mess, but I didn't want to hide either, so I just sat in my bed and regained my stoic composure.

The door opened.

"What are you lookin' at, bitch?" A grimy, ungroomed, but also seemingly drunk man, who appeared not to have shaved for a very long time, asked me, eyeing me critically.

I frowned and sent him a cold stare. He ignored me and headed straight for the beds next to me.

"Whore, wake up!"

He shook the girl with black hair, violently. It seemed like he was about to snap her neck.

"**Wake up!**" He stopped shaking her, and then started beating her, in his drunken stupor.

I stared in horror, and managed to say, calmly, "Stop hurting her."

He looked at me with utter disgust in his face. "This is none of your business?"

She woke up, "What the hell?" she murmured, as a fist came in contact with her left cheek.

The black-haired girl cried out softly, threw the remaining covers off of her bed, and proceeded in kicking the older man where it hurt most. The drunk man moaned in pain, while the black haired girl took advantage of the fact that he couldn't move and started to attack his face and neck with bad aim and slightly weaker than average punches. She was developing a black eye. Apparently, the drunk man was faking his pain, and when she sent a fist flying towards him, he pulled it forward and dodged the blow, making the girl fall on the cold linoleum tiles. There was blood on the ground now.

Then, the drunk man turned the girl around, and slammed her back on the tiles, holding her by her neck and choking her. I could hear her struggle for air.

* * *

-/_Iwate Amane's POV/-_

Again, I witnessed the incident that changed my life forever. It flashed in my eyes, a never ending cycle, that would forever haunt me. My own sister's death was my fault, or so it seemed. Now, I felt more mentally and emotionally battered and scared since 'that' time. At the time, I'd sincerely believed that I my sister was dead. I'd even believed that it was my fault that my parents were dead. The thought that it was my fault that I was so cruelly molested and raped.

And then, there was pain, this time it wasn't mentally, but physically, and I could hear voices slightly, as if I was underwater and there were people above the water, talking to me. They were so morphed and gurgled. Were they human? One was familiar, but not a voice that I wished to hear again. Who was he? I had a vague impression that he wasn't supposed to be where I was. On the edge of consciousness, I barely noticed that I was being shaken, like a child with a doll, violently. Was my head going to fall off? Was I dying? Who cares anyways? The world is too troublesome. Too troublesome. Wouldn't it be better to just rest a bit? (A/N: Bleh! D'x -chokes on emo-ness- x.x Ima die from emo-ness now.)

I could hear a voice in my mind now, it didn't come from the outside world, it was just inside of...me. The voice was quiet, but I didn't need to strain myself to hear what she was saying. It reminded me of Amaterasu, when she used to encourage me to stay with her, to live my life to the fullest, the way that all people should, never stopping so that I could always try something new. As she would say, 'One life cannot contain all that one human can experience.' She would always smile sweetly at me when she said that.

I remember the time that I had cut my wrists to deeply with my mother's old cooking knives when I was nine, hoping to get away from my cruel lifestyle and guardian. She found me, convinced me to live again, and bandaged me well, completely unconcerned about the blood pouring from my arms. She even came up with an excuse for my bloody arms for school the next day.

Her indifference to blood it probably due to the fact that she was in the car in which my parents died.

"No." I murmured, unsure of whom I was saying it to. I repeated the word again, "No," I felt even more restless as I said 'No' to myself. Why was I saying no?

The entire world appeared to be shaking, shaking form some kinda of pain, I had thought, while I was shaken mercilessly, by the trembling ground.

My haven, the one place that I could hide and never have to come out, my mind, was shaking. Before, there had been a rock solid foundation built by what I believed in, and how I had previously sincerely believed the world was like, but now...it had crumbled, showing me what the world really was. The last thing holding my haven up had been my faith in myself that I could protect my sister, but now...even that had crumbled. My fit in myself had been cruelly demolished by the world. But, this shaking didn't seem like it was my own, it seemed to be coming from a different source. My world was being turned upside down.

I could hear a loud voice, "Whore, wake up!"

I murmured in my mind, "I don't wanna, especially if you're there."

Why was I dreaming about my jack ass uncle?

I'd heard voices in my mind while I was dreaming before, but only when someone was talking to me loudly. Their voices would come into my dreams. Could it be that he'd found us?

I peeked my eyes open, little by little, muttering "What the hell?" I was met by a fat and greasy fist.

_I'll have a lovely black eye after this..._

"Oof," I was slammed against the wall by my fat-jackass-bastard uncle. He really was a bastard, though. He wasn't really my uncle, he'd actually been adopted, (but you can't tell anyone that. Family secret. ;P)

There were covers and something on my arm, restraining my movement, quickly, I kicked off the things on my legs and made for shelter, kicking the fatass at the same time. I hit something squishy, by accident, of course.

I recognized the thing restraining my arm, but didn't remove it, that could be painful.

_Damn IV drip..._

I merely dragged the cart that followed my arm towards the jackass, and tried to hit him, but of course, I am weak, and have aim that is so bad, that it appears to be unnatural. I basically ended up smashing his eyes in and boxing his ears, twice each, before he pulled one of my arms down and forced me onto the ground.

When I understood what he was about to do, I tried to brace myself for the impact, but even though I barely managed to, the coldness of the ground startled me, and I remained motionless. (So...sadistic...sooo...emooo...I think that I'm going to die from all of the crap I'm typing. Sooorrryyyyy. Dx)

My vision blacked out when my head hit the ground.

And...

I couldn't feel anything anymore.

* * *

-/Hitsugaya-sama's POV/-

I watched the girl fall to the ground, her head hittingit with a loud crack. The drunkard was wiping some of the blood from his own face. There was no cry this time, only shocked expression as she hit the ground. He spit on her while she was out cold, and gave her a few sound kicks, only to watch her sitting there, unmoving. I'd thought that she was dead, what with the freakishly blank expression on her face and the way that she didn't seem conscious. (LOL. xD Hitsugaya thinks she's dead. XD) I'm not the type to just sit back and watch while someone gets hurt.

I leapt out of the hospital bed, discarding the blankets that covered me while, at the same time also managing to untangle myself from the strange cord attached to my, the tape and all, although the needle stung a bit when it came out.

He, being the drunk bastard that he takes the appearance of being, beat her until the moment that I got to the other side of the room. He was such a cowardly asshole.

Obviously, the baka (2) didn't even see me coming. I came up from his side and sent an uppercut at his face following it with slamming his back against my awaiting knee.

The breath went out of his lungs and I threw him to the ground. It was then that my legs weakened and I fell to my knees. Had the crash affected my legs?

"He came into here!"

_That person from before...She finally got here?_

A few burly security guards burst into our room, surprising the asshole before my eyes.

"Which one was it, Unohana-sama?"

A woman around her mid-twenties to thirties appeared, stepping through the door serenely, with a calm gaze that didn't look angry, but you could tell, just from the way that she looked at you, that she was mad, as that gaze met mine, I began to feel very insignificant, which was strange, for me.

"To be honest, I am not certain. Kotetsu-san was the one who was attacked."

The guards turned their gaze to the young silver haired woman, who stood behind the braided woman.  
She cleared her throat once and appeared to fuss with her hair, like she was nervous.

The drunk probably didn't really care about all of the people in the room. Brandishing a knife, he grabbed me and put the knife to my throat, threatening the doctors and the guards with my life.

I kept my face impassive, looking as through I didn't care about what might happen to me.

"What's the matter, boy, not afraid to die?"

I didn't answer him, but instead I slipped my hand around his wrist and twisted, while standing up in the blink of an eye, bringing his hand that held the knife behind his back and pointing the edge at himself, the point of the blade brushing his back. I twisted harder and the drunkard's hand opened, letting the knife drop to the ground. he clenched his teeth, because of the pain I'd put him in.

"Fuck...you..."

"I could say the same," My face was still impassive, as the security guards and the doctors escorted the bastard out of the building and into a nearby police car.

Then, I collapsed, my body weak from hunger. A hand caught me before I fell to the ground completely.

"Hello, Taichou, (3)" an overly cheerful voice said to me. I turned my head to the side, slightly to see a lock of strawberry blonde hair and a set of very large and familiar breasts.

"MATSUMOTO!" I shouted, indignantly, as my face was mashed into the young woman in front of me.

I struggled against her death-hold for a moment before losing the brunt of my energy that I had gained from the shock of seeing Matsumoto here.

She released me, "Taichou, are you alright? You aren't as lively as usual." She looked at me with a concerned expression.

My stomach growled really loudly, and I sent one of my cold glances towards her.

She looked at me with a knowing expression, picked me up, and set me in my bed gently.

"Aw, my widdle taichou is hungry."

A vein pulsed in my head, "Shut up, Matsumoto..." My stomach growled again, letting us know what it thought of our conversation.

"I'll be right back, until then, don't move."

"I don't think I can." I cast a glance at the retreating woman, as she tiptoed out the door, for reasons unknown.

About ten minutes later, she appeared with a tray of food, the food consisting of watermelon, vegetable stir fry, and water.

"You didn't cook this, did you Matsumoto?"

"No, taichou. Why do you ask?"

I sat up higher in the bed and waited until she handed me the tray to answer.

"Because I don't trust your cooking."

After I said this, I picked up my watermelon and took a huge bite. It wasn't bad, a little bit sour, but not bad.

"Aw, taichou. I'm hurt." She made a puppy eyes at me. I ignored her.

In between bites, I managed to ask her, "So, why are you here?"

"Your father sent me here because you–pfft." Matsumoto started to laugh and point at me.

I stopped eating and a vein in my forehead popped out and started to pulse "What is it now?"

"You're dripping juice everywhere."

It was true. As she spoke, a drop of pink liquid, trickled from my nose cast(4) down onto my bed sheet. I frowned deeper than I had been previously, grabbed a napkin, and wiped my face.

"There, happy now?"

"Nope, you missed a spot."

"Where?"

"Just about everywhere, really." Matsumoto took the napkin out of my hand and cleaned my face.

I scowled at her again, snatching the napkin back.

She beamed at me, "By the way, did you notice this?"

Matsumoto picked another item off of the tray again. It had some kind of trademark on it and it said '_Wet Ones_' in English.

"What's it for?"

"For this." She ripped the package open. Inside, was a moist towelette, folded over and over again, so that it was more compact.

"What the hell?"

"Ah, ah ah, wait a minute, Taichou..." She grasped the side of my head firmly with one hand and smirked. I could tell that this wouldn't end well for me.

"What are you doing?" I eyed her free hand carefully, while at the same time using my hands to pull away from the hand that was holding me in place.

"You'll see in just a minute." Matsumoto pulled the towelette out from the bag, singlehandedly, letting it float down to the floor. Then, she snapped the towelette hard, making it flatten. She grabbed at my hair when she lost her grip on my head, or rather, she grabbed onto my bang, her arm pulling my towards her chest area. I'd been too close to that way too many times for one lifetime. I jerked my head back again, cringing in pain, while Matsumoto's hold tightened.

In one swift movement, her free arm came towards my face, wiping each side of my face. When she finished, she tewaked my nose and commented on how cute I looked. It was hopeless to try and reason with someone like her. I simply frowned and focused back on eating.

She started to prattle on again, and I ignored her. She seemed to be pretty happy, just sitting there and talking to herself. She's a strange person. Then something that she said caught my interest, "I still can't believe that this hospital put you in the same room as the people that you ran over..."

I switched my gaze back to her. By now, she was talking about something else unimportant.

"What did you say?"

"Huh, what, do you mean 'the blonde one reminds me of Yachiru-chan?'"

"No, I meant what you were talking about before. Something about the hospital..."

"Oh, I was talking about girl with black hair and the girl with brown hair. You ran the one with black hair over, but the one with brown hair-"

She started to babble again. I pinched the bridge of my nose. What irony. I nearly killed the girl that I'd recently...saved? Would that be the word for it? I cast my gaze back to the girl whose bed was a bed over. Unlike earlier, now she looked as if she was at peace. Another nurse had come in while Matusmoto left and gave the girl pain meds, allowing her to sleep again. She'd insisted against it, not wanting to have to pay more money or something like that. She was a strange girl, but it wasn't as if I would see her again after that day, so I ignored her and went back to eating, now working on the stir fry. I picked up the chopsticks, pulling them out of the package that they came in. Still, I reasoned with myself, I really wondered about why that vulgar person came into this hospital room and attacked her. I came up with an excuse for thinking about her, wondering about whether she was some kind of prostitute or something. Maybe that man was her...what did they call them? Pimp?

"Taichou, are you listening to me?"

"Not really."

Matsumoto frowned at me, again.

I ignored her, preferring to be lost in my own thoughts.

* * *

-/_Iwate Amane's POV/- Post-Blackout_

You know...sometimes, no...a lot of the time, I've wondered about what it would be like to die. Would it be painful? Would I be happy? Would I have regrets on what I had done? I'd thought about it before - dying I mean.It was an interesting thought. I'd questioned the purpose of my existence a bit after my parents died.

Hell, I was in enough mental anguish that I tried cutting myself with one of Mother's old knives. It hurt much less to focus on the physical pain. It was like I was draining my mental anguish away. It hurt so much, but felt so good. My sister caught me after that one time. I don' t think that I'll ever forget that day. After all, it was the day that I decided that I was here for a reason. If I wasn't supposed to be here, I would have died when I was raped.

Amaterasu came home early from school. I never found out why. I'd been cutting myself, over the sink. I know, it was stupid, but I wasn't about to cut myself in the already disgusting bathroom. This was the only place that our drains worked, mainly because I was the only one who used the kitchen. I hadn't heard her open and close the door. She's always done things quietly. She didn't speak when she walked into the room. She merely stared at my bleeding arm, watching me draw the knife against my skin, seeing the blood drip into the sink. She saw the tears in my eyes and noticed my sobs. She spoke my name quietly, I didn't respond. I wasn't paying attention.

As I brought the knife closer to my trembling arm again, she shouted, "NEE-SAN(5)!" I was scared out of my wits and dropped the knife into the sink. I said her name quietly, and she ran to the sink and grabbed my arm. She turned the faucet on and started to rinse all of the blood down the sink. There was so much blood. She didn't look into my eyes, she usually doesn't.

Her tears told me what she was thinking. She didn't want to be alone. I didn't know what to think. Words aren't enough to describe feelings. I'd never known that Amaterasu cared for me so much. She guided me to the closet, where there were bandages, and wrapped my arm in the bandage tightly.

"Don't hurt yourself, nee-san."

I still couldn't show her any of my emotion. She just walked off, to the kitchen and cleaned the knife, then put it back in place. I'd found my reason for living.

"Ano...eto..."(6)

Someone had entered the room, while I had been drifting in my painful memories.

"Hm?"

I shifted my gaze to a shy-looking male nurse. He may have been a doctor, but he looked like a nurse to me.

"Ano...I don't know how I should say this..."

I sighed inwardly. This unwanted conversation may take a while.

When he noticed that I didn't respond to his words, he said, "Ano..."

I rolled my eyes at him. What a wimp. "Please, stop saying 'Ano' It's getting annoying."

"A- I mean sorry, it's just that I'm nervous."

I had a feeling that he was nervous all of the time.

"I-an-don't know how to say this..."

"Just freaking spit it out already!"

The scared expression in his eyes appeared again. Had I been too harsh with my words?

"Y-you have HIV" His voice was so quiet, that I could barely hear it in the quiet room.

"I have..._what_?" My voice cracked on what, and I could taste salt my mouth, due to the tears forming in my eyes. My life would end...soon, and I could do nothing about it.

"How...how long do I have?"

"Do...do you mean until you get AIDS, or...until you die?"

"Until I die."

"Maybe...10 years at most."

"10...years." I choked up. My tears were flowing freely now. The shy male nurse gave me a packet of tissues.

"Wh–Where's my sister?"

"When that vulgar man attacked you...we decided to move you into a different room, in case he found you again. We also decided to move your sister, to a room with other people like her."

"What do you mean?"

"Your sister is in a coma."

And, on that happy note, he switched my pain medication with what was already on my IV drip. I was in too much of a shock to fight the medicine-induced sleep.

* * *

-/_Iwate Amane's POV/-_

I woke up again, I don't know how much longer later. For all that I knew, it could have been a mere 30 minutes or a whole month. All I know is that I was still pretty drowsy. My eyelids wouldn't stop closing. Two people entered the room. Al that I would see was white poofy hair, like a cloud moving towards me. I wanted to touch it, to see if it was a soft as it led me to believe. The medication made my hearing sound muffled. Stupid pain relievers.

And then, the cloud spoke!

"Mathumoho, wah ah weh he? (Matsumoto, why are we here?)" Was all that I heard. The cloud was speaking gibberish.

"Taithou, dun beh lak tha, we heuh tho tha yow cah apohlothi to da pehrthon tha you ra ova. (Taichou, don't be like that, we're here so that you can apologize to he person that you ran over)"

_What...the...hell?_

It seemed like the drugs were wearing off. I could move a little bit, although it hurt to.

"What do you mean, it doesn't even look like she's conscious!"

The cloud, which now looked more like a person was speaking clearly. Strangely, there was this huge thing taped to his face. Come to think of it, there was something on my face too. I wanted to take it off. Flinching every time that I moved, I somehow managed to get my hand under the mask and pull at it a little bit. It was too bad that there wads an elastic band holding my mask in place. When I let go, it snapped back, stinging my flesh.

"Ow," I muttered to myself quietly. My voice was rough, the way that it usually is when I first wake up. I cleared my throat.

"Who are you?" My vision cleared little by little. Now I could see some strange white-haired boy who had freakishly blue-teal eyes with an angry expression glaring at me, along with a busty, strawberry-blonde-haired woman standing behind him, holding onto the handles of his wheelchair. The woman smiled at me graciously, making me wonder if she was some type of model, presenter, or something along those lines. I responded to her smile with a strange look, one of my eyebrows going upward and my other eyebrow going down.

The little white-haired freak looked away from me, as if he couldn't stand to even look at me, and answered, "I am Hitsugaya Toshiro and this idiot is Matsumoto Rangiku."

_Stuck up prick._

I composed myself, trying to get the stupid tired look that I knew was on my face, into...something more bored, uncaring...I was yet to learn that the boy in front of me had the same look on his face. Unknowingly, I had also copied his same gesture.

The woman giggled when she saw what the two of us were doing.

I moved my head sideways a bit, showing slight confusion. "What?" We both said at the same time, Hitsugaya's voice being colder and more irritable than mine.

"You two are **so cute** together."

We replied at the same time, in the same tone, "Shut up Matsumoto."

My eyes widened, and I stared at the stranger in front of me.

He was still looking away, with the bored expression that **he stole** from **me**.

Matsumoto's expression had now changed into some sort of fangirly expression, you could see hearts in her eyes and, she seemed to be writing something on a strip of cloth. When she completed her 'masterpiece', as she put it, she tied it onto her forehead. It said, "AmaneXToshiro FOREVER"

_What the hell?!_

There was no point in trying to keep my composure now, my mouth dropped open and I was seconds away from leaping out of the hospital bed and tearing that strip of cloth into little shreds. It was too bad that the little midget got to her first.

"Matsumoto, what the hell?! When I get out of this wheelchair..."

She giggled, "It's nothing, Taichou. I'll leave the two of you alone now, you probably have to tell her something."

_...what?!_

The freaky lady sneaked out of the room. I was sure that she would be watching or listening from the window in the door. Sure enough, I saw a mane of strawberry-blonde hair peeking out.

Hell, why did I care anyways. I shifted my gaze to the other freak in the room, and propped myself up in my bed a little bit higher.

"I ran you over."

My hands were still on the bars when he said this.

"You did what now?" I changed my voice so that it sounded like I was disinterested, although there were still traces of tension audible.

"I ran you over with a taxi cab." His tone was just as apathetic as mine.

"Oh." Our nonexistant conversation completely stopped for a moment, it was so quiet that you could hear the sound of the second hand ticking inside of an analog clock nearby.

"How did this happen, again?" I asked him after a few beats had passed.

"It's a long story."

"I have time."

So, the midget explained to me, how the taxi-person had a heart attack in the middle of driving, which seemed to be rather convenient to me, died while driving, and how I had been also conveniently placed in the middle of the road during a rainy night. It was just my luck that Hitsugaya didn't know how to drive, it was also just my luck that I had to be right there, at that exact same moment.

I nearly lost my composure, leapt out of my bed and punched him right there, that pretentious little kid. I was just seconds away, but, of course, I steeled myself again, and allowed him to carry on without interruptions.

When he finished, I only had one question, "Who's paying the bills?" I looked him right in the eye too, into those scary, azure eyes.

Matsumoto decided to burst in again.

"Amane-chan!"

I nearly hissed. It was rude enough to refer to me by my given name, when we were mere strangers, but then she decided to add the honorific "-chan" to it. The woman had no manners. I merely glared at her.

"What?!"

Her enthusiasm was notable.

"Do you wanna stay with us?!"

* * *

**OMFG!**

-headtodesk- TYPOS! T-T

:O** erina destiny:** XD THANK YOU FOR THE IDEA OF STICKING HINAMORI IN THE HOSPITAL. I HAVE VERY GOOD IDEAS FOR THAT! -glompity-(again) Muahaha.

I'd **love **(no, I _**need**_) to have a beta reader, but the person that I wanted to beta read this is in college, has to wait until exams are over, and he doesn't have much time to begin with. T-T And then there's the fact that..he has life issues going on.  
So...PM me about that. (Har har. The person that I was typing about knows who he is... It means that he has to IM me, not PM me on .)

I...talk too much. xD

Anyways...no updates for a while. This is the 4th quarter and I've gotta make my grades count for classes next year.

I suck at portraying Matsumoto...just proves that I need a betareader...

**FYI  
**I have never ever cut myself, so if I completely screwed up on this...Sorry. O.O Dun plan on cutting myself for anything...

**&.&.&.**

T-T One of my friends read this and called the rapists extra kinky! WTF?! It's supposed to be freaking sad...then again, she's read worse. -.-! Andandandand...shelaughed. ;.; (/mope)

Anyways, no, I'm not going braindead for this story. I've planned quite a bit of it recently, and the adventures that this pair have are stacking up, although some good ideas were forgotten over the time that It's taken me to write this...I just...need time, I guess...I'm sorry to the people who actually read this and are waiting for the next chapter.

* * *

(1) Kusajishi Yachiru- Uh, you know the tiny little girl who rides on Kenpachi's back, right? She's the Vice Captain (fukutaichou) of 11th division in the regular Bleach. In this AU, she's just going to..be some person that I'll uh...use to humiliate Hitsugaya.

(2) Baka-idiot;moron;etc...

(3) Taichou-Captain; There's a reason that Matsumoto calls him this in this world. xD A very amusing reason.

(4) I've never broken a bone in my life, or my cartilage for that matter, so...IDK if that's what they're called. xD;

(5) Nee-san- Older sister, elder sister...etc.

(6) Ano/Eto- Ano is something like 'um', I think and 'eto' means something like 'uh'. It's either that or something switched around...


	5. Chapter 4: Home, School, Same Difference

**A/N:** I don't even know if I should label it so that you know that it's Amane's P.O.V. anymore. :S I mean, that _was_ the last chapter with Hitsugaya's P.O.V. And...last chapter, I messed up big time. I didn't complete a few sentences, and I never let you know what happened to her uncle. Well, I'm just going to pretend that he got taken away by security and Hitsugaya decided not to press charges.

I'm really stupid. Iwate actually turns out to be a district of Japan. Oops. Oh well. :) Her name will be Iwate. XD

**Info 4 U:** From reading a few shoujo and a couple shounen mangas, I've gleaned that in Japanese high schools, your homeroom is the classroom that you stay in for an entire school year...Like in American elementary schools. Also, I think that the entire class may switch to different subjects together.

**Many Thanks To: **Kira- She's a friend that I met almost a year ago on a site. I no longer play that game, but we exchanged MSNs and she's helped me become a better writer. She betareads for me, and my writing has improved SO MUCH thanks to her! I thank her every day. :)

* * *

-/**Chapter 4: Home, School, Same Difference**/-

_Bleach © Kubo Tite _

* * *

-/_Iwate Akame's P.O.V._/-

I was so shocked, that I didn't even know what to say. I considered, very briefly, ignoring the buxom, possibly easily distracted woman with something...more conventional to talk about. Of course, that would be rude, and the thought of staying with someone like her scared me. I looked at Mr. Midget to see what his reaction was. He was probably used to Matsumoto's random outbursts while meeting someone new. The only thing different about his expression was the more noticeable amount of pulsing veins on his face. Of course it would be foolish of me to ignore the woman who was giving me the chance of a lifetime. Nothing this great could ever happen to me, or so I thought. There had to be a catch.

"So, what's the catch?"

"Catch? There is no catch."

Hitsugaya grunted. "Hmf. Living with Matsumoto is the catch."

I looked at the pair curiously. Living with her was the catch? It didn't look all that bad...

"Um..."

"So, what do you say, Amane-chan?" Matsumoto said excitedly. Her breath smelled faintly of alcohol, and a whole wave of bad memories flooded over me. I widened my eyes and flinched.

"I- I'll think about it." I stammered. What Hitsugaya replied to my question earlier clicked a bit. Later, I'd realize that my presumptions were inaccurate. Matsumoto, unlike the person who called himself my uncle was not violent when drunk. She was merely very irrational.

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

I almost cried. It sounded similar to when one of my uncle's friends tried to get me into bed with him. I knew it wasn't the same, but it still hurt. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to stay with people who I had just met. It didn't feel... safe, I supposed.

Hitsugaya looked away, as if my expression made him feel awkward.

Matsumoto came up with a deal for me.

"What about this," she said calmly, while perking up when she talked about clothing.. "I'll pay for your medical bills, buy you new clothing, provide toiletries and furniture, get you a cell phone in case you need us, and take care of any school bills that you might have."

I gawked at her and said exactly what I was thinking. "Are you serious?!"

She looked back at me with the most innocent expression. "Of course. It's really not that much..."

_Really not that much...Rich bastard._

Hitsugaya was looking out the window. I'm sure that he was listening. To be honest, I kind of felt sorry for him, even though he ran me over. It's just that...he had to be stuck with **this woman** for days on end. I glanced at him for a moment and returned my gaze to Matsumoto before saying, "I have more more condition, but I have to ask...why are you doing this for me?"

Hitsugaya and Matsumoto exchanged a glance, and Matsumoto bit her bottom lip, fingering her mole on the side of her chin.

"I–," she started. "I used to be in a situation similar to yours." She smiled weakly, her eyes in a little bit of pain.

I chill ran down my spine. "Oh."

Her eyes brightened again as she seemed to try to cover up the former mood instilled by yours truly.

"So, what was that condition that you were talking about?"

"If it's not too much to ask...I have a sister. She's in a coma, because of the accident."

"We'll take care of her." Matsumoto said immediately.

I smiled back, still not very sure of whether I ought to trust her or not.

"Thanks."

"You have such a cute smile!" With those words said, she suddenly embraced me in a death-hug. Maybe she was trying to kill me after all?

There was a loud sigh.

"She's turning blue." He said, sounding slightly amused.

"Fine."

I coughed once and breathed in a huge breath. If I was going to be around such a person, I might as well get as much air as possible, I thought.

"I never knew that I could survive for such a long time without air."

Matsumoto laughed. Hitsugaya just shrugged.

My mouth was partway open when she grabbed me so suddenly, and Matsumoto's strawberry blonde hair had gotten caught in my mouth. I fished it out.

_Ew._

"Oops?"

I sighed. "If you ever decide to do that again, could you please warn me? I plan on living."

Matsumoto cracked up. "I was wrong. You're not the same as Taichou. You're much funnier."

Hitsugaya glared at her. Apparently, he was used to her making cracks at him in front of total strangers.

"By the way, do you go to high school, Amane-chan?"

"Um...Yeah. I'm on a scholarship."

"For what?"

"Um...music."

"That's great! You'll have to perform for Taichou and I sometime!"

"Sure..." I looked my sheets. I still wasn't up for singing in front of an audience.

There was an awkward silence.

Matsumoto spoke again, "I was wondering...What school do you go to?"

I had a feeling that she wouldn't believe me.

"Hokkai Gakuen."

Hitsugaya and Matsumoto exchanged a glance, silently conversing.

"Where?"

"I didn't think that you would believe me..."

"...Taichou is going there."

"What?!"

The shortie didn't look like the type that was up for a challenge of one of the strictest schools in our country. As I had just recently found, though...looks are very deceiving.

"You...are...going...to...Hokkai?!"

"Yes, but it's standards probably aren't that high, considering-"

Hitsugaya didn't get to finish his words. Matsumoto covered his mouth with one of her perfectly French manicured hands. I had a feeling that she knew what he was about to say.

"Be nice, Taichou."

He seemed to be infuriated behind the palm of her hand, grunting in indignation. I held back my urge to laugh and looked away. Matsumoto, on the other hand, seemed to always be ready to talk.

"So, do you live in one of the dorms?"

"Um, no. I have to take care of my sister, and the school doesn't allow people who aren't students to live on campus."

"Then, where do you live?" She seemed honestly curious. Histugaya had seemed to calm down, and you could hear the ticking of the clock in the room.

"I...live with my sister and my uncle. We're...a little ways off from the school."

"...Why doesn't your uncle take care of your sister?"

"..." My pause probably sent alarms off inside Matsumoto's head, but why would I care? "He's...incompetent."

"Is he mentally disabled?"

"No, he's...always drunk."

"Oh."

There was a long pause. None of knew what to say.

"Well, Amane-chan, I should probably be going. I still have some more business to take care of."

"Oh, ok. One more thing before you go...Do you know when I get out of here?"

"The doctor says that you will be out tomorrow." She'd already gotten up and wheeled Hitsugaya to the door.

"Thanks, bye."

"See you later Amane-chan." And with that, they left.

* * *

_-/Timeskip/-_ After Amane's release. In Hokkai Gakuen

_Rangiku is the most emphatic woman I have ever met. She's so active and...eager to help. It's a bit strange, but she's Rangiku. What should I expect? Somehow, even after two days, I feel like I know her very well, and yet...I feel like I'm missing some vital side of her that she doesn't show. It's a bit strange, but I trust her, strangely enough. I don't feel paranoid about her, but I've been wrong before._

"Iwate-chan, you're back!" My friends, Meagan and Kyoko greeted me as I walked onto the campus.

"Hey guys," I said, smiling and walking towards them as they walked towards me.. "What's up?"

"The most amazing thing happened when you were gone on Saturday!" Meagan exclaimed, she was jumping up and down like a rabbit, but that's what she represents. She's uncharacteristically short for our stereotype of an American, always happy and excited. Other than Rangiku, she's the most extroverted person that I know. She never seems to be serious, and is always eating sweets. Yet, she is really thin and bony. It's the strangest thing.

"We're having a transfer student, and sensei says that he's a famous genius!" Kyoko smiled a little bit and twiddled her thumbs. She's a transfer student from Osaka and is shy. As shy as she is, sometimes it seems like you can't get her to shut up. She has light brown hair, unlike Megan and I who have pitch black hair, but is short like Meagan, whereas I am just average height. Kyoko is also the best girl at sports in our class. It's the only thing that she actually volunteers for.

I stopped in midstep. Transfer student? Oh crap.

"Who is he and where is he from?"

"His name is Hitsugaya Toshiro and he's from Tokyo." You could almost see hearts in Meagan's eyes. Her strange green eyes looked like emeralds in her joyful face, and I think that I know exactly what she was thinking. She's a pretty obvious person most of the time, and she is always thinking about money and how to get more. Then again, we're similar in that way, I just hide and control it more than she does. Besides that, I actually have a good reason to need money. She just wants to shop.

"According to some girls in our class, he's supposed to be really cute." Kyoko blushed. She's not like either me or Meagan, but she still hangs out with us anyways. It doesn't really matter to me, though. I like her anyways.

"I didn't know that he was famous," I muttered to myself.

"Did you say something, Iwate-chan?" Meagan asked me.

"Oh, I said, I've met him before."

"You've WHAT?!" Meagan and Kyoko shouted.

"Is it that big of a deal?"

"YES!" The fact that both of them were talking to me, and saying the same thing at once was pretty creepy. I mean, they're not complete opposites, but they don't act alike at all.

"He ran me over."

"Oh, so that explains something. Sensei was wondering where he was on Friday." Kyoko said, quietly, thinking to herself.

At the same time, Meagan said, "Are you serious?! How did that end up happening?!"

"Long story. You don't wanna know."

"Oh yes I do." They were doing the creepy, "both of us talking at once" thing again.

"Well," I decided to fib a bit of it. They didn't need to get into _**everything**_ that happened. "I was walking in the middle of an empty street, because it didn't seem like anyone was out. And then, this car came barreling out of no where and it crashed into me."

"That's why neither of you were here? It doesn't make very much sense." Kyoko frowned.

"Ohmigosh, are you alright?!" Meagan asked.

"Uh, yeah. I'm here, aren't I? And Kyoko, he crashed into a tree after that, breaking my arm and leg in the process. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm on a crutch." I balanced myself and waved the crutch with my good arm.

"Oh,"

"Um, yeah. So, are we going to go to class or not? We're the only people out here."

"Shi-it!" Meagan started to sprint for the classroom, while Kyoko helped me with my things. Apparently, she was still curious.

"So, what's he like?" She asked me, the grabbing my messenger bag and putting it on her shoulder.

"Who?"

"Hitsugaya-sama, of course!"

_Sama?_

"Oh, him. He's...cold and strange. I guess that he's nice. I didn't really talk to him, though."

"Is he as good looking as he is in the pictures?"

"What?! I don't pay attention to those things. They're a waste of time and money. Besides, I'm not interested in ever having a boyfriend. Men are assholes."

Kyoko frowned. We disagreed on this subject a lot. She was a hopeless romantic. I had always been against men in general.

"Well then, how tall is he?"

I sighed. "I couldn't tell, he was in a wheelchair, and I was sitting in my bed. Are you happy now?"

"One more question," she pleaded.

"What?"

"Is he scary?"

"Not to me."

She had the "I shouldn't have asked her that question, it was pointless" look on her face. I'd seen it many times, and it has never failed to amuse me.

And so, I decided to try to cheer her up.

"Don't worry so much about it, you'll see him tomorrow."

* * *

-/Timeskip again/- The next day, in Amane's class. 2-A

Everyone in the classroom had some type of gift to give to Hitsugaya, except for me. Then again, it's not like I _needed_ a gift as an excuse to talk to him. We live together now. I mean, he may be like a hermit in his room, only coming out to cook ramen for himself, but I don't exactly _want_ to talk to him, either. I bet it's the same for him.

Everyone was chatting really loudly and excitedly before he came, and it was almost as if a celebrity had come to our school. No one **WOULD**. **STOP. TALKING.** I don't think that I've ever been as annoyed at people who were not in my family before. I swear that there are some stalkers in our class, because someone literally **ran **to our door, panting so hard that it seemed like he'd lost a lung and shouted, "HE'S COMING!". This made the whole room dead silent, I just frowned and laid my head on my desk so that I could go to sleep.

By this time, even sensei, who is always late was here, and it was five minutes before the bell rang. Meagan and Kyoko tried to pull me up from my seat so that I would stand with the rest of the class, and when I realized that I probably wouldn't be able to sleep because of them, I stopped resisting and got up, slouching, where they then told me to straighten my posture and quit being lazy. I wasn't very happy by the time that he walked into the room.

You could literally hear gasps from all of the girls, myself excluded, when he walked in. It was actually pretty loud. The guys in our class just looked at him and frowned, then started to whisper like old women among themselves. Sensei just stared at him open-mouthed. I honestly didn't see what the big deal was about, but I narrowed my eyes when I saw him. Nothing good had happened to me since I met Hitsugaya.

Stupid Meagan had to be extroverted and greeted him once he came into the classroom.

"Hi, you must be Hitsugaya-kun, welcome to Hokkai Gakuen!" She smiled broadly and held her hand out. I could literally feel Kyoko boiling with rage next to me.

Hitsugaya ignored the hand that she held out and replied, "Thanks, I guess. Don't call me Hitsugaya-_kun._ It's too imformal. Call me Hitsugaya-_san_."

Then, he over walked to sensei, leaving Meagan stunned and asked, "Is this class 2-C?"

Sensei licked her lips tenatively, and replied, "Yes. My name is Tomoyo Haruka. Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?"

Hitsugaya looked exasperated. "Sure," He bowed, with his head facing the ground and said, very politely, "Hello, my name is Hitsugaya Toshiro. Please take care of me."

Then, a girl fainted. Kyoko.

_Crap._

"Sensei, Kyoko-chan just fainted. Can I take her to the clinic?"

"Um, do you think that you're strong enough? If you aren't, I could send another student to go with you."

Just as I was about to tell her that I could do it by myself, Hitsugaya interrupted me.

"I'll go with her. Iwate-san is injured enough as is. She could show me around the school at the same time."

I frowned at Hitsugaya. Then, there were more whispers, mostly about Hitsugaya and me. Girls now frowned at both me and Kyoko.

"Iwate-san?" Sensei looked nervous.

"Fine." I replied, glaring at Hitsugaya at the same time. "You take one arm, and I'll get the other."

"Whatever." He grabbed her left arm, and with my good arm, I barely managed to lift her up.

"I don't think that this is going to work."

Hitsugaya ignored me and just carried her bridal style, like she weighed nothing. More girls gasped and basically turned green with jealousy.

_Showoff._

"Where to?"

"Follow me." I said, completely annoyed now. I hobbled down the hallway, and then into took the elevator key off of the chain on my neck and stuck it into the keyhole and then put it back on my neck. Our classroom _had_ to be on the second floor. Once the elevator made its way up and then opened, both of us stepped inside and waited for the doors to close. Then, our conversation started.

"You never told me that you were in the same class as me."

"Was I supposed to?" I knew that I was being a bitch, but I already don't like the male gender enough as is, and now I had to be trapped inside of an elevator with one. My paranoia was kicking in. There was also the fact that something about this little midget unsettled me.

"You didn't have to, it would have been just more convenient that way."

"Honestly, I don't like you at all. There's just something about you that bugs the living hell out of me. You make me nervous."

He looked at me like I was some kind of idiot. "What have I ever done to you? The only thing that I did was run you over, and that was an accident."

"I don't give a damn, I hate you already."

"Then leave my apartment."

"Make me."

"Ding." The elevator stopped and opened its doors.

I rolled my eyes. "The clinic is the first room on the left."

Hitsugaya just walked out of the elevator. I then pressed the "close doors" button once both of them were out.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving. I can't stand you. I feel like I want to puke, and my heart is pumping way too fast, it's almost as if I want to fight you or something."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "How am I supposed to get back?"

"Figure it out yourself, tiny genius."

Then, the doors closed completely and I smirked as he glared at me. Finally, I got away from him.

* * *

(1)Takoyaki- Literally fried or baked octopus. They are made of batter, dried octopus, tempura scraps, etc. Look 'em up on wikipedia. They're actually really good. :) I've had them before.

(2)Gakuen- I'm guessing that this means "Academy" It turns out that Hokkai Gakuen really is a school. I googled "Gakuen" and found it. Of course, I have no idea of where it is, and I don't mean to be offensive to use its name. It's just something that I picked up. I have absolutely, positively, no idea of what it means. :D or fictional purposes, I'm going to just make it some famous school.

* * *

**OHSHC** – Do you know what Ouran High School Host Club is? Well, if you heard of it, there's this girl (the main character) who always says "rich bastard(s)" when the other main characters, (6 guys) act really spoled and rich. I just had to steal the quote.

I meant to get this out in time for Hitsugaya's birthday, but I forgot. :( D'oh.

BTW I know that this isn't that similar to the preview. I'm sorry. I meant to add a bit more, but IDK. This felt like a better place to leave it off.


	6. Ch 5: And That's Just Two Sides of Me!

**A/N:** Hey! I guess I'm back? It's been at least a year since my hiatus... I have no good reason for why... Mostly school, etc... I really didn't think I'd continue my story, but hey... I'm here! :D You can blame my friend for that. ^_^; 'Course, he doesn't know that I'm writing this story (Thank God!), but his writing re-inspired me. :] So, enjoy! :D

**Crapcakes!:** I was going to use another word, but...I feel like being a good person for now... Anyways, I messed up with the room name for my timeskip thingamagig. :/ It's room 2-C in case you were confused about my retardation.

**Disclaimer!**: I don't own Morooka Kishino or anything related to him. :/ Not even the game, Persona 4. :[ I only own this fanfic (kinda) and my memories of his retardation.

* * *

-/ **Chapter 5: And That's Just Two Sides of Me!** /-

_Bleach © Kubo Tite _

* * *

The moment I left him there, little pins hit my heart. I thought about how I completely abandoned Kyoko for a minute and cringed.

"Did I really just leave her with _him_?"

As I stood in silence, waiting for the elevator to reach the second floor again, I contemplated Hitsugaya and Kyoko being alone in the clinic. It seemed like there was a battle going on in my head.

**Amane 1: **You have to go back there! Who knows what he'll do to her? What if he tries to pull something on her while she's unconscious? He's a GUY! You don't eve know him very well!

**Amane 2: **Hitsugaya-san is a kind-hearted person! I mean, think about it. He's letting you stay inside his home, hasn't even come close to hurting you, actually helped you once, and for the most part, he's spoken politely to you. Look at what you've done to him! You are forcing him to pay for yours and Amaterasu's hospital bills, are taking advantage of his kindness in letting you live with him, and just left him with a girl he doesn't know. What's wrong with you?! Go back!

**Amane 1:** What the hell are you saying?! ALL MEN ARE VILE AND EVIL! Didn't you learn your lesson when you had to move in with your uncle?! Besides, **think about it**. How many people could you have gotten AIDS from? Do I have to spell it out for you?! **YOU**...**ARE**…**DYING**! Because of people like him, in a matter of years, you will no longer exist in this world!

**Amane 2:** Not everyone is the same, your two best friends are examples of this. Anyways, that was in the past. We learn from our mistakes. Anyhow…it seems that Rangiku-chan was in a similar situation to ours. Why would she be living with Hitsugaya if he wasn't a trustworthy person? If you do decide to go back, at least how him the way back to class. It's his first day here.

**Amane 1: **Yes, go back now! Think about Kyoko!

**Amane 2:** Stop being so paranoid. She'll be fine. Kyoko is a big girl and it's obvious that she likes Hitsugaya-san, or at least finds him attractive.

When their bickering came to this in my head, I started to wonder why every girl I'd seen so far was swooning over a short guy with a spiky version of an afro. I couldn't make any sense of it. He hadn't seemed so amazing in my mind.

The next time I chose to stop by for a peek inside my own mind, the other two people occupying it looked as though they had come to an agreement. Then, the elevator stopped and I stepped out, going back to class. Side 2 singlehandedly convinced Side 1 to return to class. Just as I slid the door open, I reflected on allowing Hitsugaya to wander the school aimlessly again, and then dismissed it without a second thought.

_If he made it to the classroom by himself he should be fine._

The dramatic change in the noise level of the classroom was astounding, as the door opened. (1) If I were to use music terms, it changed from _fff_ to _ppp._ (From as just about as loud as it gets to almost dead silent.) Even if it was unintentional, I had to admit, it was something to be proud of. A huge exhale-groan came out of the class, including sensei, when they realized it was just me. Following their realization, the volume went back to _fff_ as they all asked me questions at the same time.

"Where's Hitsugaya-san?"

"Is Kyoko alright?"

"Did he stay behind with her?"

"How do you know him?"

"Does he have a girlfriend?"

"ALL OF YOU **SHUT UP! **I can't hear myself think!" I roared. When they all gave me a shocked, or in some cases pissed off expression, (one kid looked like he'd peed his pants) I told them everything I knew as of that moment.

"One, I left him in the clinic with Kyoko. Two, I think she should be fine. I didn't see the nurse there, so I wouldn't know. Three, I guess you could see that. Four, he's the guy who put me in these casts." I waved with my arm and leg that got smashed when I mentioned my casts. "Five, I don't know and I could care less. "

Of course, my answering the mob's questions only brought another onslaught of interrogation. You couldn't imagine my relief when sensei managed to restore order to the room. Unfortunately for me, this brought me a whole pile for Trigonometry homework for that night. When my classmates heard her adding on homework for every minute of their incessant talking, the quieted down and we began our lesson.

I guess I'm the type who has a delayed conscience or something, because about 10 minutes into the lecture, I began to rethink my actions a little bit and feel a bit guilty. The more I thought about it, the more my broken limbs began to throb, and the more they throbbed, the more they hurt. Soon enough, it was hard to tell which part of me was hurting more.

"Amane-chan. Amane-chan," Tomoyo-sensei's voice seemed to be worried.

I grunted in response.

"You look a little bit pale and you seem to be sweating. Are you alright? " she asked, concern still coloring her tone.

I thought a bit before answering, "No, not really. My broken limbs hurt."

"Maybe you should go to the clinic..."

"T-that won't be necessary. I feel fine now!" I said emphatically. I didn't want to see Hitsugaya's face when he saw me go into the clinic. I had a strange suspicion that he'd kill me.

"No, I really think you should go. See if the nurse can give you some medicine for you pain or something."

"I'm serious, I'm fine!"

Sensei deliberated before choosing someone to "take" me to the clinic. "Akira-kun, will you take Amane-chan to the clinic?"

"Sure," Akira replied, glancing at me before rising from his seat.

"I'm perfectly fine, I'm telling you!" I exclaimed, pleading with her so that I didn't have to go.

"Come on, Amane. You can't weasel your way out of this one." Akira said dragging me out of my chair and through the door, while our classmates sat back and laughed.

Takahashi Akira was easily one of the most popular guys in our school and possibly one of the only ones I could stand. He's the type of guy who's really quiet in class and strangers, but all smiles when outside of school. If I had a brother, I'd want him to be like Akira. Then again, we were basically siblings. The two of us practically grew up together and were neighbors until my most recent move. Akira had a dark complection, dark hair that was black like ink, but a lot more messy. I suppose you could describe it as an ink splatter. His dark eyes were like onyxes or a cave without an ending, a mystery waiting to be unveiled. I'd always wanted to hold up a bright light to them, to see if there was something hidden back there. His skin was dark, not _black_, but more of a golden color, I guess. He was about medium build and noticeably taller than most of the guys in our class.

"So-" he started.

"So." I interjected.

"What happened to you? You look as though you were run over by a car."

"So what if I was?" I replied, still a bit irritable because of this morning. "Now **you **are a different story. Do you have a personal tornado come by your house daily to get your hair to look like that?"

"Really, Amane? You seriously got run over by a car? I mean, I know you love singing and all, but isn't singing a siren song calling for trouble all of the time a bit too much?" Akira teased. "Oh, and stop making fun of my hair. It's hurting my feelings." He acted as if he were self conscious, and tried to comb back his hair. It just got worse.

I snickered, and then tried to show a poker face when he turned around. We'd already gotten to the elevator. "It's not like I'm _asking_ for bad things to happen to me. They just do. In case you hadn't noticed, it's not fun."

"Alright then, explain to me how you got run over, other than the usual way."

"What do you mean, the "usual way? There's only one way to get hit by a car. You stand in the middle of the road and the car doesn't stop. Then it hits you."

"Ding," The elevator opened up and we stepped inside.

Akira gave up on the topic. "How do you know Hitsugaya?"

"He ran me over."

"...What?!"

"Ask him yourself." I said, exiting the elevator, with a few thumps.

Akira fished around for another topic. "How's Amaterasu-chan?" he asked, hesitantly.

I froze for a moment, before moving towards the clinic again. "She's... in a coma."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah..." I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

"What happened?!"

"...The accident..."

We slid the door open and walked in to see a very pissed-off-looking Hitsugaya and my unconscious best friend.

"Iwate..." He growled, giving me a death glare that made me freeze in place for the second time in two minutes.

I let out a nervous laugh.

"Heh, heh... Hi Hitsugaya..."

There was a slight pause before I got the breath knocked out of me.

Oblivious to my freezing in place, Akira ran into me. We fell into a pile on the clinic floor with me basically kissing linoleum. If it wasn't enough that my limbs were in pain as it was, when I fell, my limbs bounced back up after hitting the floor and smacked it again.I ended up hitting both funny bones and knees.

Akira immediately stood up and tried to bring me to my feet.

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright, Amane?"

"Ow... What the hell, Akira?! Watch where you're going!"

I glared at him a bit, while he fidgeted under my gaze.

Burning isn't the right word, but Hitsugaya's scowl made me want to shiver and yelp as if I were being scalded. I was paralyzed again, a deer caught in the headlights of an upcoming car.

_Well, isn't that ironic._

I composed myself and turned around slowly.

"Meeting you here is... such a surprise..." I said, trying to be confident but failing miserably.

The short fluffball didn't reply, he just glared and that was worse than him saying anything at all.

"Um, Amane... are you going to go in or not?" Akira asked from behind me. It turned out that I'd only taken one step into the room.

"Uhhhh, yeah." I took a hesitant step to the side, not wanting to get closer to Hitsugaya. I looked down, to avoid his gaze, while Akira stepped casually into the room.

"Hitsugaya-san..." he started, taking a brief look at me and then right back at Hitsugaya. "Is the nurse here?"

"No," Hitsugaya stated. "She seems to have taken a break and gone off somewhere." Judging from the tone of his voice, he was annoyed.

"Great," Akira said, "I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Akira, what do you think you're doing?" I asked him, coldly. I've known Akira long enough to notice when he was starting to become overprotective of me.

"I just want to talk with him, that's all," Akira replied, trying to sound lighthearted. I felt a new chill flow down my spine. Akira was definetly starting to become overprotective.

"If there's anything you want to know, I'll explain it for you." I told him, hiding my irritation. Akira took this opportunity to ignore my every word.

"So," He began, "how are you liking it here in Yamagata?"

"It sucks." Hitsugaya, replied frostily.

"Akira, the best you're going to get out of him is your own personal frustration." I lectured, feeling very much like an parent telling her child that he didn't_ need_ the newest Nerf-gun-exploding-blaster-in-five-different-colors-thingamabob or a wife telling her husband who knew nothing about plumbing that he couldn't fix the water pipe that froze and broke in the middle of winter because he'd just make it worse.

Akira decided to ignore me yet again.

_I'm going to kick his sorry, skinny little ass someday._

_"_I'm sorry to hear that," Akira yammered, plainly not sorry for Hitsugaya disliking our city. "Why don't you just go back?"

"Akira..." I warned, threat creeping into my voice.

"It wasn't my choice to come here," came Hitsugaya's frigid voice. I could already hear my teeth clattering and feel myself shaking from cold. "My **father**," he said spitefully, "forced me to come here. Do you have anymore questions?"

His eyes flashed, and I immediately the image of Amaterasu's drawing came to mind. I frowned and took a second look at the previously mentioned dwarf. I couldn't imagine myself laughing next to someone so uptight.

The cold, dead air of the room was glacial and thick enough to cut with a knife. I barely noticed that the two were glaring at one another. I tried to be a bit more lighthearted, even I didn't like the feeling the nurse's office gave. It frightened me and set my paranoia ablaze. If I didn't say something soon, I could feel a fight breaking out.

"Akira, we're here to get my pain meds. Since, sensei (1) isn't here right now, we can just stop by later." I urged him, nudging his knee with my crutch. If it was possible, I would have shoved him out the door myself.

"Hitsugaya," I continued; he raised his head with a slightly less cold look in response. "Are you going to stay by Kyoko until she wakes up, or do you want to come back to class?"

He gave me a sarcastic look and replied, "Aren't I supposed to find my way back myself?"

"Take it or leave it. If you really want, Kyoko will probably take you back herself." I said, in monotone, nodding at one of my best friends. In a more bitter tone, I added, "I mean, as long as you don't put her in a coma or something similar. People generally don't like that."

His eyes narrowed. "I'll wait."

_Coming "home" after school sounds like a bundle of fun._

"Your choice," I retorted, trying to be as indifferent as possible. I exited without a second look, and within a hops and thumps of my crutch and my own clumsiness, Akira caught up to me.

"Amane, what was that?"

"What was what?"

"You act...different around him."

"How am I **different**?" I spat. I tried a glare of my own on Akira. He bit his bottom lip, one of his many habits when he was thinking.

"You sound like you're being polite, but also...being as rude as possible with your tone and actions at the same time."

"That would be called, me trying to act nice. I know, it's a rare sight." I was being sarcastic now; talking to Hitsugaya left a bad taste in my mouth. I could feel the conversation taking a turn for the worse.

"You were being **nice** to him?! The way you acted reminded me of an angry slave! How would that be considered being "**nice**"?" He was dumbfounded and due to my irritation, I could have cared less.

"You wouldn't get it."

"I don't think I would." He said, his eyes taking a darker quality. "One minute, you're telling me about how he ran you over, put your sister in a coma while breaking two of your limbs, and the next you're scraping at his feet."

"Like I said, you wouldn't get it." I rolled my eyes at him.

"So, explain it to me." Akira said, trying to be reasonable.

I smirked, "I owe him one."

"How do **you** owe **him** one?!" I realized how amusing it was to see Akira frustrated and it calmed me a little bit.

"Like I said, you wouldn't get it." I echoed.

"What is it that he's done for you? I mean, besides the whole hit and run thing."

"Well, technically, it's not him, but he's taking care of Amaterasu's bills and I'm staying over at his place."

Akira's jaw literally dropped to the ground.

"You're doing what?"

"Don't ask. If it makes you feel any better, I'm just staying there. Nothing else."

"That's beside the point!"

"What point?" I asked, cocking my head to the side innocently and putting one of my famous evil smirks on my face. "If it helps at all, I'm not the only person staying with him."

His eyes questioned me hesitantly.

"His guardian, Ran-chan. She's really extroverted and weird, but she's nice enough."

The mention of the strawberry blonde woman brought a thought to mind and I brightened at it.

"She's also taking me shopping today." I added. Hopefully, I wouldn't be "home" very long, which also meant I would have to endure less of Hitsugaya's presence.

"How is that going to work?"

"I don't know... she'll probably put me in a wheelchair or something."

"...Wow..."

"Sounds good to me." I couldn't help but laugh at the image of Rangiku pushing me down the shopping district.

"You sound happy." Akira said indubitably.

"Yeah, I guess I am. " I said, beaming at him.

* * *

**.:**Lunch**:.**

I was daydreaming when it hit me, literally.

"Thwack," Meagan tapped my head lightly with her notebook.

I recoiled in shock and even squeaked when the book hit me.

"It's time for lunch, sleepy-head, and you've got quite a bit of explaining to do."

"It's lunchtime already?"

"Yup," She replied, "You did realize that time goes on outside of that little dreamworld of yours, right?"

"Just barely," I smiled.

I guess I should bring this up now, since this sort of thing happens all the time. Kyoko is... a ninja.

"Amane-chaaaan!" sand an exuberant Kyoko. She popped out behind me, looking over my shoulder at my blank notes and unused pencil.

I jumped. "When did you come back, and why are you behind me?! Your seat is up in the front!"

"I've been back for a while." She said, giving me a strange look. "And in case you forgot, I always leave my bento (2) on the shelves in the back."

"You're really been out of it, Amane-chan." Mezgan said, sounding concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"It's just my life, that's all," I replied, already tired of this day.

"Hey, Kyoko, would you run down and get me a two curry breads(3) and some drinks?"

"Oh yeah sure, the usual?"

"Yup."

Then, to me she asked, "Where's your bento? I'll help you carry it down to your usual spot."

"Bento... oh crap."

"You didn't bring one, did you?"

"No."

"Wow, this is the first time in how many years? Is there any kind of bread you want?"

"Dunno. I've yet to try the red bean or taro kind."

"Alright, I'll message her." Meagan said, being her usual mother hen self and whipping out her cell phone. "You owe me one, though."

"Thanks." It wasn't the first time I'd wished I had a cell phone the moment I saw one.

"So, what's wrong?" Megan looked me straight in the eye, her eyes losing their usual hard emerald gleam.

"I ran away from "home", got mysef and Amaterasu run over, broke two limbs, found out Amaterasu's in a coma, and learned that I have HIV and 10 years to live. You wouldn't be in an especially good mood if all of that happened to you within one week."

"Oh my God."

"And, I think it's my fault Amaterasu's in the hospital."

"What?!"

"I...tried to push her out of the way of the car, but she must have hit her head too hard on the pavement. What if he has memory loss or is paralyzed because of me? I'll never be able to forgive myself."

Tears ran down my face against my will and I mopped them up with my sleeve.

"It may be because of you that she's not dead."

"I believe she'd rather be dead than a vegetable! Besides, she could die at any moment, just pass on like an ant being stepped on. She's going to leave me like our parents did, and this time I won't have anyone left."

"Everything's going to be alright." Meagan said, rubbing my back in a comforting pattern.

"Sure, because when it comes to bem, everything is always fine."

"It's always been fine when I tell you everything's going to be alright." She tugged gently at my hand. "C'mon, Kyoko's going to be wondering where we are. Oh, and you're not alone, Amane."

* * *

(1)- I've read and seen quite a few animes/mangas where a nurse is called sensei. I don't really get it, but hey, It's a cultural thing, I guess.  
**FYI-** It also means "teacher".

(2) Bento= Japanese lunchbox. Go wiki for more information!

(3) Asian bread- Ok, so we Asians are strange, I'll admit it. We eat bread, just like about everyone else, but the way we flavor it is different than Europeans. We like to put different spices in them, not fruits or anything, but we'll put spices and whatnot in them. It's actually pretty good. I prefer it to sandwiches. :P

(4) Persona 4! He's a character in the game, which takes forever and a half, or so I've heard. It's supposed to be pretty fun, though... (dunno why I'm typing this..) There's also a manga that goes with it! :D

**A/N:** I had a pun that I felt like writing, so if you got it, you got it. If you didn't, too bad for you. I guess I'm just a nerd. :P

:D I thought this was a pretty fun chapter to write, even though it got delayed a lot. Hehe. Sorry about that.


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